NBA Season Preview: Draymond Green & Taylor Rooks Predict MVP, DPOY, ROTY and Warriors Fate

What's up everybody? Welcome back to the Draymond Green Show. On today's show, the season tip-off to the 2026-2027 NBA season is here. So it's time we make some predictions. But before officially getting things underway, I have some help in doing this. It is one of the premier sports media personalities. And I say premier sports media personalities, which we're going to get into. Because I actually think one of the premier media personalities, and let's just move the word sports out of it, but we're going to get into that because she's that great. She's covered the NBA at the highest level, hosted major events, uh, probably the best interviewer that there is in the game, uh, one of the best hosts there is out there. And someone I happen to Have the honor and pleasure of calling a close friend that I have so much love for. As soon as I logged on, I got checked about not responding to a voice note, and and you know I'll take that on the chin. I I didn't see it, but I just saw it, and we are here. So please help me in welcoming none other than the one and only. Taylor Rooks, thank you for coming on the show.

Thank you, Dre. What a nice intro. I echo every single thing about you. And I— can I say, I'm going to say what this voice note was because I think it is very important for people to understand something that I have always known about you, which is how much you believe in your people, but also your ability to, I think, sometimes see your people in ways they don't even always see themselves. Mm-hmm. So the voice note that I had sent Dray was really thanking him because back when I worked at TNT, my first big linear moment was at All-Star Weekend when I hosted the Alt Cast with Draymond and Charles Barkley. And I remember being so excited to do this because it was a moment to be able to prove that I could host, that I could show up in this big moment. And what I learned after was The reason that I got to be in that seat is because when Draymond said he wanted to do an all-cast, he said that he wanted me to be the host. That ended up being one of the first things I ever hosted. And now my job is to host NBA on Prime. So the confidence that it gave me that you believed in me, that then it filtered down to TNT believing in me, which then filtered down to Amazon believing in me, which just, it means so much to me. And I don't know if people always get to hear like this kind of Draymond Green story. So it's very important for me to tell the world this Draymond Green story because it truly, truly, I think, helped, really helped me at the moment that I am right now. So I appreciate you. And yeah, y'all, he didn't respond to that. He didn't see it. He didn't see it. I

didn't see it. I just saw it. And by the way, there was a reply like, hey, just, I want to make sure you heard this. And I still didn't see it. So I apologize, but I also wanna thank you. It's okay. But also say, you know, I've been very fortunate, you know, at TNT, the opportunities that they've given me or afforded me. I've obviously put the work in, but again, we all need to be given a shot, right? So I will say the opportunities that they've given me. And when we spoke about what we were gonna do for All-Star that year, I was like, man, I would love to do an alt cast for the All-Star. And Craig Barry, who's the absolute best.

He is.

Tara August, who was there and moved on. They were incredible. But they immediately was like, okay, great. You wanna do an alt cast? All right, so who's the cast? And so they allowed me like to put the cast together. And I was like, wow, like I get to choose the cast? And they were like, great. And I was like, okay, Taylor Rooks as the host. And they were like, oh, Taylor. And I was like, yeah, Taylor as the host and myself and Charles. And they were like, all right, we'll see if Charles wants to do it. And I was like, all right, great. And they said right away, Charles will do it. So number one, also, For Chuck to come and sit with us.

Yeah, totally.

Was legendary.

Was very cool.

Like, and like Chuck, I always say, he, when you're talking NBA sports media, like, I don't think there's anyone better. He's the GOAT. And—

Easily.

He came and blessed us with his presence. But for me, the thinking was, who's, who, I know who the person is that can mix it up with us. I know who the person is that can lead the conversation. I know who the person is that between Chuck, who's gonna completely lose his mind, and myself, who's gonna completely lose my mind, I know that there's someone that's gonna always make sure, hey, I can let them lose their mind and I can bring this thing back. And it was you. And so just— Having the opportunity over the last 12 to 15 years of watching, dating back to being in the Big Ten and just watching your growth. I think it was a no-brainer. And I think when that All-Cast went on, I think it was the highlight of All-Star Weekend, which—

I do too.

Of the All-Star Game.

People loved it.

Yeah.

And by the way, so producer Draymond, 'cause you put it together. But I agree, I think people really loved it. I mean, it was informative, but it was also really entertaining. It's so fun. I feel like twice a year people post that joke exchange between you and Chuck in the suit. Like, it had real moments. So, like, it's one of my favorite things that I have done in my career. And I know that I have so much of you to thank for seeing me to be in that seat. So I will forever thank you for that.

1,000%. You know, one thing I want to speak about before moving into The NBA season, NBA on Prime. Before we move into that, you know, what I see you as is, I think, different than most people see. Like, I think the NBA is great. I think all the work that you're doing in the NBA is great, but I think the goal has to be Oprah. And I've said that to you. Thank you. Like, I think the goal for you, like, you should reach for the highest of stars. For yourself, where do you ultimately see this going?

Yeah, you know, I have been thinking so much about that this past year, largely because I also got bit by this LA bug where there just feels like there are these infinite possibilities. And this— the first step in, in taking those possibilities is believing that they're possible for you. And I have just really Taken this mindset that, like, all the rules are fake. Like, all of these things that you think you can't do, it's all fake. And obviously, my main thing, my number one priority is making NBA on Prime the best possible show. It's being the best possible host I can be. It is dedicating myself to what we do at Prime Sports, helping everybody at the desk shine. Like loving my teammates, all of these things. That's my number one priority. Doing that has really allowed me to get into other arenas that I hadn't really considered. And I think that it's really understanding how to maximize all of your capabilities and all of your skills. So I've been working on a scripted show that we actually just sold to a studio. Pretty soon we have to go and pitch it to distributors. So Fingers crossed. I created a conversation card game. Like I just said, do you know I'm good for a chat? So I, like, made this game where people can ask questions of the people that they already know and get to know them deeper. Because I wanted to have a product. And I wanted it to be something that felt very true to me. Right. And when I was in Cannes, I listened to Oprah give this talk. And she said the thing that makes businesses successful is when they come from the truth of you.

Mm-hmm.

And I think in this business, I had tried things that didn't really feel like me. And they didn't work because they weren't me. And so now all of these goals that I am trying to reach, I want them to come from who I actually am. So yes, of course, I want to be as successful as Oprah. I want to have, like, a media empire like Shonda Rhimes, like, all of these things. But I think at the root of it is just, Not seeing a box. Like, I think every time I have given myself a goal, I surpass that goal. So I just want to do everything that I can. And being in LA has helped that, but also just understanding, like, you can do multiple things and you can be more than one thing. And so I want to be— I want to be known for various endeavors, not just the stuff that I'm doing in sports.

1,000%. No, I think that's absolutely amazing. I must tell you, this is a little weird for me, the student interviewing the teacher. It is just funny to sit here and ask you a question and sit and listen to your answer. But I'm trying to make sure that off all my notes I've taken, that I am following them to a T while the student interviewed a teacher. This is pretty cool.

You're doing an A+ job. It's a conversation. You already know I'm gonna ask you questions. Like, it's gonna be a very— it's a tennis match.

1,000%. No, this is amazing though. So without, like, obviously seeing outside that box, and, you know, we've obviously mentioned NBA on Prime, but the NFL is, is, is huge. It's, it's the probably the big— it's definitely the biggest sports league in the world. Um, but when you're talking from a media standpoint, probably has the largest audience of anything in America. Um, you've had the opportunity to do NFL on Prime on Thursdays. Right. What has that experience gone like and how many Have you felt the kind of the, have you reaped the benefits, say, of the eyeballs that are on the NFL? You know, it's so many more eyeballs on NFL than it is the NBA. Have you kind of been able to tap into some different things or seen some things come exactly from those eyeballs that you've now garnered through the NFL?

Oh, completely. Yeah. I mean, to your point, like, For the NBA Finals, I would say the viewers are between like 12 and 15 million or so people. For the Super Bowl, it's 113 million.

That's crazy.

It's just like, they mean it when they say like football owns a day of the week, multiple days of the week. It's Thursday.

Yes, they do.

Thursday night, all of Sunday, Monday night. And you know everyone is watching. So yes, the, like what football has done has truly become almost like I remember the quote where Roger Goodell was like, you know, our competition actually isn't the NBA. Our competition is Google and Apple. Like, it's what the NFL is. It's just this larger mammoth of a thing. Sure. What has been the most interesting to me, I think, in terms of exposure or like maybe, you know, supporters that'll come up and say something is football has a lot more of like Middle America. So it's like, it's people in Green Bay. You know what I mean? It's people that you're like, oh, I don't know if you maybe would have seen my stuff if you were just watching me, you know, on the NBA. It's just a different kind of sport in that way. And so that's been cooler to reach other people, but I feel like I've gotten definitely like brand deals because of the NFL and that exposure. I have definitely reaped the benefits of.

Before obviously we get into our predictions for the season, I just want to talk a bit about the NBA Amazon Prime show, NBA on Prime. How would you assess that, you know, in its first year? If anything, you know, what went great? What are some things that maybe y'all want to change? I thought, I thought it was one of the purest NBA shows that I watched last year, and it was, it was amazing to see the banter between the guys, but it wasn't really banter, right? Like every now and then they banter a little bit, but it's It's a lot of opinions, right? It's a lot of analyzing. It was cool to see, but, you know, being on that stage, I know we critique ourselves a little bit differently than may everybody else may critique, or, you know, we know something that went wrong. And although the naked eye couldn't catch it, we know it went wrong. What was it like being on that stage for the first year and overall how the show, how y'all felt like the show went? In this first year?

I mean, I feel like it went incredible. I'm so proud of what we did in year one. I'm proud of myself for doing it for the first time. I'm proud of every single person that was on the desk with me— Blake, Dirk, Steve, UD, Candace, D-Wade, who of course has done lots of TV, Candace as well, John Wall. Like, every single person. Like, we just had this goal and we attacked it. You know, we wanted to— Inform, and we wanted to educate. We wanted to entertain. We wanted to be ourselves. But I think that, like, when I rewatch it— I'll start with myself. There was just certain times where I would have loved to hear one of them tell a story about a time that they were in it. And I'm like, this year, I really want to have them expand when they talk about an experience. And again, that is on me. Anytime that that doesn't happen, that is on me. For sure. not making the discussion go that way. So I want to make sure that I do my job to both facilitate the conversation, but also always push the conversation forward. So that's something that, like, I want to work on a lot this year. I mean, rewatching, I love the demos. I think one of the things that makes our show so cool is that we have that court and the guys are, like, running through actions, or Dirk is, like, showing you the right way to— shoot a ball. I'm sure with Kyle Lowry joining this year, he's going to show us how to take a charge. There's just so many things that we can do because of the court. And so leaning into the demos, I think, would be incredible. But all of the guys showed up as themselves every single show. And I think that's what made it so, so good. For some of them who had never done TV to show up in that way, I was so impressed and just so lucky that they are on my team. So I just want us to do more of the same, but better. I love Nightcap, where we would have the interviews. We had you on last season. Like, I just— I like the vibe of how it's a lot looser, and you can really dig into things and ask real questions. You know, like, I even remember when you came on to Nightcap, there was so many things going on about, like, Jonathan Kuminga. But we were able to get a real answer from you about what you thought. And it was a way that you both uplifted him and gave your opinion. And that catapulted us to be able to have a conversation. So that's one of the great things about streaming. also is you're not bound by these time constraints the way that a lot of other places are, which I think makes Knightcap really special. But very proud of every single thing that we did. And I just want us to be better this year. And we have Eastern Conference Finals this year.

That's amazing.

That's big time. Yeah, I can't wait. We're going to travel to Eastern Conference Finals. Of course, we still have NBA Cup. So we'll be at Hinkle Field House. But like, it's, it's going to be fun. And this— if there was a year to have the Eastern Conference Finals, It's this year.

That's— yeah, that is true.

Yeah, it's this year. It's this year. We got, we got real lucky.

That's a fact. And, and how does, how does it work? Y'all have it every other year?

Yeah, every other year. Every other year we have it. So yeah, but it's then it like doubles so that when we get it the next year, it's not Eastern. The next time we get it will be Western.

Oh, amazing.

Yeah, so we'll flip-flop with NBC.

Oh yeah, that's great. That's great.

Yeah.

How did the lineup of you, Dirk, Steve, UD, and Blake come together? 'Cause I feel like that's the core of it, right? Like that's the core. And then, you know, D-Wade comes on not as much, but some, and CP comes on not as much. CP also does games, right? Yeah. You know, John comes on sometimes.

You know, CP does it all. Candace can do everything. I love her so much. Yeah, same with Dwyane. He does, he'll do games and everything. John, of course, comes in, who is, by the way, like a basketball savant. Like, he's just an encyclopedia. He is— we'll be watching the NBA games in the green room, but then he'll have like high school games on, or he'll have college games on. Like, I've never seen anything like it. He knows any person that has ever picked up a basketball. It's incredible. But yeah, so I don't know the exact mechanisms of how they landed Dirk and Blake and Steve at UD. But I know that we all had a vision of the kind of talent that we wanted on the desk. I think one of the greatest things that our dear friend and my boss, Amina Hussein, says is that she has, like, a no-asshole policy. She wants everyone to come into work and enjoy working with one another. And honestly, when I look at the show and I think about us, like, the thing that really worked is we really like each other. We have to spend so much time together in the green room, watching the games, if we're traveling to do all this stuff. But I think that how much we enjoy one another really shows on screen. But then you have Dirk, who we know how European the NBA is right now, how international the NBA is right now. So you have somebody like him who can really bridge that. You have somebody like Blake, who very recently stopped playing, but he's also just such a star. Like, he is just, like, so charismatic and warm on air. Like, he's incredible. And he just brings, like I said, that really recent NBA experience. But he does it in his way that is so magnetic. Then, of course, you have UD, who was in the NBA for so very long. We know that he is Mr. Miami Heat. And working with UD, it is so clear to me how he stayed at that franchise for so long, even when he was not playing. Because he is such a— he's such a tone setter. And he brings that realness to everything that he says on NBA on Prime. Then you have Steve Nash, who, of course, is an MVP, and a Hall of Famer, and a legend, but was also a coach. So it's just everybody has these things that they can bring into the conversations. So we really created the Avengers of the desk, which is really nice. Mm-hmm.

Yeah, I think it's super fire. And as I say, including myself as well, and I will put all 4 of those guys in there, and I think they would agree with me, you are the professional, right? Like, we are professional basketball players that have now moved over into the space, right? But like, not near, you know, didn't go to school and train for it, right? Not near the amount of experience you had. Did you find at times, you know, you had guys in their first year ever doing this, which means there was a first episode, a third episode, Did you at times find yourself being able to coach those guys up on some things that they may not have known due to them playing basketball for 20 years, not doing media for 20 years?

Yeah. Yeah, definitely. I mean, it's funny, UD, and then they always say like, I'm Gladys Knight, and they're the Pip. But yeah, I mean, it was— so the answer is two-pronged. One, yes, there was times where I would give my opinion or say, you know, maybe you do more of this or less of this because it was, you know, their first year. But then for me too, it was also my first year. So I'm learning on the go about what's right, what works, what doesn't. And I think we were all kind of bonded by this experience of figuring it out. And then you also compact it by the fact that our very first show, first ever episode of NBA on Prime, was the same day that all of the sports gambling stuff dropped.

Wow.

So we had to— We had to come in our very, very first A-block ever of NBA on Prime is delivering this report. Yeah. So we were just thrown into the fire. But I think we learned so much, literally starting at episode 1, about what it means to be in sports media, in sports television, and in a time that maybe feels a little hectic and you're learning on the fly. But it was so invaluable. And so I just think— And in a lot of ways, that set the tone for everybody to understand, like, this is real shit. Like, let's— and, you know, but it's so great because they all care so much about being good at this job. Like, they all care so much. And that makes going to work so much easier too.

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What a good question. Honestly, it's like a little bit of a cheat of an answer, but when we did the NBA Cup, because we were on the road in Vegas, such a big moment. Like, it was the Knicks and the Spurs, which obviously ended up being the Finals matchup. But we're all just like, it's remote, we don't really have our notes, our desk, and we're just kind of vibing. And it was a great, great show. It was high-stakes basketball, all the stars were out, and we were really in a groove of like what we wanted the show to feel like. And we were in Vegas, so you have the bonding of like being in Vegas and the travel. That was one thing that's great about Thursday Night Football is you're traveling together every week, so you just get to know each other so much differently. So anytime we're on the road, it's always really fun. But I would say the NBA Cup semis and championship shows were my favorites.

Amazing. What does a week of prep for you look like? Because I can admit it, we show up on the set, not all the time, not at production meetings. You show up on the set, At least that's how it was at TNT. Maybe you guys are at production meetings, I don't know. But we show up on the set and Ernie's been there since 10:00 AM for a 7:00 PM show. Yeah. And he's went through all of this stuff with producers and we get to go talk, like, and talk about the game. And like, what's a week of prep like for you who has to host a show? Everybody see these 2 hours. I know for damn sure it's not 2 hours for you.

Yeah, it's definitely more than 2 hours. I mean, of course, first you start with the fact that you're watching the games every night because, you know, the NBA, this is— it's everything that's happening. It's not just the games that you're covering. So you're watching games every single night. And then, of course, for the show, I have a weekly one-on-one with my producer. Then I do a weekly one-on-one with Keeks, my researcher. And then I take the calls with my producer with all the guys about what they are interested in this week, what is sticking out to them, what they think about our games. Then on show day, yes, I start preparing very, very early that day. I write everything. Everything that you hear me say, I write. My questions, I write. What I'm saying in the VO is what I'm saying in the open. Like, I write my stuff. So that takes up a lot of time. Then we do have our production meeting. Everyone is in attendance. OK. Yeah, everyone is in attendance for our production meeting. And then we get out and do the show. But I'm working on the show Multiple hours every day leading up to it.

All right, that's good to know. Nice, Amina. Keep everybody all right, Amina. All right, that's

hey, you know, Amina got us working. Amina got us working.

Great to know, Amina. Jared, great to know.

Jared, Jared really got us working. Wait, I actually, I actually have a question for you. Like. When you do this, like, do you feel like you are better in the flow? Or do you feel like you are better when you have prepped? Because some people, like, I think for some people, it is just a preference.

I think I'm better in the flow.

Okay.

But what I've learned is, like, I'll be completely honest. So when I first started doing the podcast, I didn't prep at all. I would literally get the rundown 2 minutes before the show, be like, boom, boom. Yeah. Oh, cool. Boom, boom. Got it. Boom. Now, another thing that I've always tried, and I do this intentionally every now and then, producer have to remind me, but I do it intentionally. When I'm filming, I try to make it as natural and straight through as I possibly can. For a couple reasons. Yeah. Obviously every now and then you're like, all right, I can stop and redo that because I am being— I am— it is recorded, right? But I try to go through it just like I'm going through a live show because I don't wanna fool myself. Like, I'm a creature of habit. And so I don't wanna fool myself of like, oh man, you can stop, you can stop. And then, you know, I do a podcast 2, 3 times a week and say I end up on TV that weekend, you can't stop. You know, like it's rolling, you know? And so I try to keep myself in that mindset of just rolling through it. When I first started, I didn't prep at all. And I realized, and then I realized, you know, I would say some things and I was like, huh, if I had a prep, me saying that I could have went a little further into that point that would have made that point hit home more. Right. And so Then I started to prep more, you know, but that was something I had to learn along the way. But still in saying that, I think, I still think I'm best within the flow because I think naturally, like, it just allows my natural self to come out, you know, as opposed to like when I am reading off something, like, I feel like it's not— It's not you. Really me being—

Yeah, you're like, this is not me.

Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. Well, because I'm always so curious with you. And like, first off, you really were one of the first to say, OK, this is my platform. I'm going to talk. This is new media. Like, that is what you were doing. And I'm so curious because you've had so many moments where you are speaking your mind. It becomes a part of the news cycle. Draymond said this thing, and I know how much you consider an opinion before you say it. And I'm just curious, like, I'm curious the thought process that goes into when you know you're going to say something. Does that make sense what I'm asking?

1,000. Oh, 1,000%. Because there are things where I'm like, I've thought about it and I'm like, huh, I should say that. And then I think about all the possible things that's going to come from it. You know, and oftentimes I'm like, oh well, I'm gonna say it anyway. Yeah. You know, but very, very rarely do I just say things. Like, I think a lot of people oftentimes think like, Draymond just be saying anything. And it's like, nah, you should know me. I've thought long and hard about that before I said it because number one, I hate being wrong. And

so

I just don't wanna— the last thing I want is to give somebody the opportunity to be like, ah, you wrong. Like, I already know they want me to be wrong. Like, people want me to be wrong so bad. They wanna go at me so bad. So I already know that. So the last thing I'm gonna do is like, just be throwing out shit that's wrong. Like, I've thought about these things over and over again. So there's definitely a process. And, you know, I live in the sports media world from playing standpoint, from doing what I do, but also like as a fan. Like, I, Totally. I live and breathe this, right? So I'm always aware of the opinions that's around, you know, coming around anyway, right? Like, and the things that are being said, and I've thought about it and I'm like, I got something for that. So it's definitely thought that go into it. As you know, I very rarely would just say something like, nah.

Yeah.

If I say it, I meant it. I thought about it and I meant what I said. Every now and then, obviously you're gonna, I can slip up and be in the moment and say the wrong thing. But for the most part, I've thought about it.

Yeah. But like, yeah, but it's always your thing, you know, like, which I think is, it's always what you thought, you know? And I like, you have, you have never been somebody who says the thing like just to say it, you know, which I think sometimes we'll see when people are podcasting or doing things like this, like, You have thought about it, and I'm sure also kind of weighed what the reaction to said thing would be, but still said, this is my thought, and this is my feeling, and this is what I'm going to put out there. I just think it's fascinating. To me, all of it is fascinating.

Oh, thank you. I appreciate it. Yeah, I just hate when, like, I just can't really get with the— so many people just say things, like, just to say them, or say them because they know they can get people to rally on that side, right? For instance, go prime example. We started, we were talking before the show and I mentioned how much my heart hurts for Ben Simmons. To watch someone go through what he went through, because everybody, even on the basketball side, right? Everyone has an opinion about— You know what happened in his career from the point of when he passed the layup up, Matisse Thibault got fouled, and they end up losing that game. Then Doc says what Doc says, and all of these things, right? And everyone has their opinion about that. And granted, we're basketball players; you're going to have an opinion. No problem. Cool. As someone who a has been an all-star and I've won championships and all the things. I've struggled with confidence at times as a basketball player. And I know what that can be like. And I struggle when people act like they don't know that struggle. Like, as if, oh man, they never struggled with confidence. And now this is the first time we've ever seen a high-level player confidence waver a little bit, you know? Or people start saying things where it's like, man, the easy thing to say is, ah man, Ben Simmons, now you wanna come back. Now you, you know, you was faking an injury. It was this. The easy thing to do is to pounce on Ben Simmons because you know the rest of the world already wanna pounce on Ben Simmons. So I'm gonna say that thing because I know everybody gonna agree with me. Now that's whack. Like, I don't respect that. You know, like, and You know, Ben Simmons had really had back surgery. And as someone who went through a serious back injury and was actually able to avoid surgery, I have a very close friend of mine and a very, very dear close friend named Bob Myers who also went through back surgery, the same back surgery that I would have needed had I gotten the back surgery, and it ain't go so well. And then he needed another one, right? And then You know, for someone who I know just loved getting up and down to play basketball, I then watched him not be able to run up and down a court, a basketball court, for 5 years. You know, and, and, and, and, wait, wait, by the way, that same back surgery that Ben Simmons had is, is the surgery that did this to, to Bob, right?

That's brutal. Yeah.

And, and then I see people like, oh man, he was faking, or, you know, he don't, he don't love basketball because By the way, again, I watched Bob, like Bob was in the weight room as much as any player for years trying to just be able to run up and down the court. He like, Draymond, I just wanna go run up and down. Like, and I watched him go through this. Now I also know that this man now had the same surgery and then people gonna pounce on it like, oh man, he don't wanna play or— Look, he finally— oh, now he wanna come back. Like, and I— but I watched somebody go at this for 5 years. And so, all right, for 2 and a half years he ain't been right, but to me that makes sense.

Completely.

You know, and so to watch people then be like, just jump on that side of it because they know everyone else is gonna take that side anyway, I, I don't, I, I don't like that. Like, I, I'll never, I'll never agree with that. I'll never do media in that way because first and foremost, I'm a player. And I will always be a player. And I think people, people use nowadays in media, they use being a player when they want to use it. And then they ain't a player no more when they wanna say some bullshit. And I don't rock with that.

Yeah. Well, I think, Because to me, this is so interesting. So first, I want to say about Ben, which I had said to you, I just really reflect on this mental and emotional roller coaster that he has had to go through throughout his career. And so when I think about him tearing his Achilles, it is so unfortunate. And I don't even think about the basketball of it. Of course, we want to see this comeback for Ben. We want to see him be— As great as we know that he can be. But when I think about just the human level, the human level is just what breaks my heart for him. We were hearing so many people talk about just how incredible he looked, what this meant. We're about to watch Being Ben, all of these things. Like, this was a moment for him. When we talk about confidence, I'm sure confidence was wrapped up in this. And so for it to be taken away like that, it's just brutal. And so I just want to say that— I hope that life and career works out exactly how he wants it to when he comes back from this Achilles recovery. But I think what you're saying is so interesting because it wasn't this exactly, but you tangentially touched on this when you were discussing Russell Westbrook and how people are talking about Russ post-retirement versus when he was playing in these latter years. Yeah. This sort of just this thing that we will do to players based on their circumstances. And when people decide, you know, to praise versus criticize or make it personal, whatever the case may be. And I'm, I'm just curious from your point of view what you think it is about. I understand the, like, the fan media kind of like psyche of it, but what do you think? it is about certain players that makes people react that way?

I think number one is players that don't back down. They don't bow down to anything, right? Like, I'm not kissing the ring, you know? Like Russell Westbrook not kissing the ring for nobody, you know? And I think when you have that bravado, when you have that demeanor, people People has wanted to, they've wanted to tear you down all along, but you were so good that they couldn't. So they've just been waiting to do it to when you can no longer go put up 21, 20, and 20, and then say that was for 60 for Knick. When you no longer can do that on a nightly basis. By the way, I still in my heart believe Russell Westbrook actually could do that in the NBA game right now, still to this day. Like he still has the energy level. He still play with the same force. Like I still think he could do that again. But anyway, when you no longer can do that on a nightly basis, they've been waiting on that because they were always intimidated by your bravado, right? But they just couldn't say nothing about it because guess what? When you came out with 36, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists, Everything that they wanted to say, they had to bite their tongue. And now that you're no longer at that level of athleticism, you're no longer that player. Well, you still are that player. You just— it looks different and it's obviously, you know, not going to be the same production, but you very much so still are that person and player. It just looks a little different now. And I think I think as basketball fans, fans in general, basketball fans, soccer fans, hockey fans, less hockey fans, football fans, they can never get over the idea of what they once saw you as. And so aging in sports, it's funny, I was just having this conversation with someone yesterday. Aging in sports is kind of— I mean, we all know it's fucked up, but it's an interesting thing because you could still be producing at a certain level, but once people see your age going to a certain place, they don't want to believe the production. They want to believe in your age. And it's like, no, well, if I'm still producing, who cares what my age is? I'm still producing.

Right, right. But like, you're like, if, if you're doing well, the age is like actually not the main thing here.

Exactly.

Like the main thing is that I'm playing well. Yeah.

Exactly. But what they—

But they want age to be the defining factor.

And so it's like, oh, but he's 39 years old. And it's like, yeah, but okay. So Russ started last year, but Russ has been a backup point guard now for say 5 years, right? Russ is actually one of the best backup point guards in the NBA. But because you don't wanna see him pass MVP Russ, You're, you're almost using it as a fault that he's a backup point guard, and you're judging him based on him being the MVP of the NBA. But backup point guard is a prominent position in the NBA, but you're charging him for being a backup point guard when it's a prominent position. You can't accept that, oh, he was once the MVP, right? He was. X, Y, and Z. You can't accept that. So, so, so now he's making $5 million a year as a backup point guard, and you are judging him as if he's playing for, for the, for an MVP, at the MVP level. And that's so unfair because there's a TJ McConnell. I always use TJ McConnell. I love TJ McConnell. But if you look at the numbers, of Russ and TJ McConnell when they're both backup point guards, Russ's numbers actually could be higher. But because TJ is a career backup, it's cool that his—

Yeah, he's being graded by a different rubric.

Yeah. Absolutely.

But I also think what you're talking about too is sort of this relationship between like expectation, circumstance, and success and how Where you grade at these certain things becomes your baseline. And then like when that becomes your baseline, dipping below is seen as bad when really it just might be the mean, right? It's like, and like, but it's just, it's what we do in sports. But I agree that it is like this faulty system because like when greatness is like the standard, you aren't really allowed to do anything else. So, somebody whose standard isn't greatness could actually benefit more because they get to do less, but be seen as exactly as they're supposed to be seen, if that makes sense. So I think, I think you're totally right.

Think about this. Russell Westbrook was the backup point guard on the Los Angeles Clippers. He was the most criticized player on the Los Angeles Clippers On a day-to-day basis in sports media. He's a backup point guard. You don't even talk about other backup point

guards. Yeah. Which in itself is the proof. You know what else I think about? And like, we've, we've talked about this before and it's a little different, but it's similar with Jayson. It's a very similar thing that happens because again, very young and very early, the baseline became this. That became the baseline. And so people don't even realize all the other great things that he's doing because he did it and you're like, well, it must always be this. Like, it's, it is fascinating how like you become your own measure.

He will never win an MVP because of how much success he had young, that now he's had that level of success or better for so long. That it's not even recognized. It's just like, oh yeah, oh well, like him doing it. Same thing with Luka, by the way. Luka will never win an MVP in the NBA. This is the last possible year he can win it. But—

Damn, you don't think ever for Jayson or Luka? You're saying because of like how, what has been said?

Because if Luka go average 34 points a game, they gonna be like, oh, Yeah. Of course Luka averaged 34 points a game. And it's like JT can go average 30, they're gonna be like, oh yeah, we know he can average 30 points a game. He can average, both of them can average 30, 11, and 8. Oh yeah, we know they supposed to. Like, and it won't be viewed as somebody else averaging those numbers. It's like people get fatigued of it. Same thing happened with LeBron James. You can't tell me he only should have 4 MVPs. Yeah.

Well, I mean, it also gets— yeah, I was going to say, people get fatigued and then there's just, what is the MVP? Like, that's kind of like another thing. It's like, what is it? It gets complicated. Now granted, I think that they're one of the reasons that there isn't this solid definition is because, you know, the point of the voting is that you want the voters to pick the MVP that fits their criteria of MVP. You need diversity of thought and opinion in the pool. So what I might think is different than MVP— or what I might think is MVP, you might think something completely different. But that is how you're supposed to get to the MVP that is representative of the group. But it does become like Is it the best player? Is it the player that did the most with the least? Is it the player that like, like had the scoring title? Is it the player that this, the analytics speak to? Like, you don't— is it, by the way, is it the best player on the best team? Like, there are just so many ways that you could define it, which is the kind of the issue that I think we run into a lot. With these awards. I started to feel this way about Coach of the Year, actually, where it's like, Coach of the Year, by the way, kind of never ends up being about coaching.

Yeah.

Do you know what I'm saying?

For sure.

Like, it's never— it's not like, what play did they draw up? Like, that's not what becomes Coach of the Year. Like, it is It's the— it is the story or it's the personnel or it's what they did or what they did in comparison to what they did last year. Like, it's just all these definitions of what it is, but it is quite literally never like who is on that whiteboard cooking up. Like, that's not really what Coach of the Year is. So I don't even know how we got here. But yes, that is my thing with the awards. And actually, while I'm talking about this, I have another bone to pick about the awards. I know that it's— first off, everybody that works at the NBA, you have such a difficult job and you all do an incredible job juggling all these millions of things. And when we get the ballots, I know that it's a lot harder to get it to us quickly because you're trying to do the 65 games and have the right names. There is just a delay in the process of getting the ballots. But because the vote— because the voting is a regular season award, I think that it is so important that the voting has to take place before we get to the play-in and before we even sniff close to the playoffs. Because I think last year, for sure, the play-in tainted some of the votes. And I don't think that's fair because it's supposed to be a regular season award.

Con Kanobla got, got, got, got, got by the play-in for sure.

Got, got. And now let me say this, Cooper Flagg is undeniable, incredible. He is such a talent. I am so, so excited to see what he does in Dallas this year, especially with Kyrie. Like, he is one of one. He is a generational talent. I'm all, all, all of these things. What Cooper is going to be in the NBA will likely be Much different and more expansive maybe than what Khan is. Who knows? You can't tell the future. But Kuber is incredible. Khan, what we were seeing him do in the regular season, he wasn't even just being judged by rookie standard. What we were seeing him do as a shooter, it was up against everybody. Like, he was incredible. But I think that just when we got to the play-in and people saw the play-in, When they put those votes in, it might have tainted them a little bit. And I just think the point of these awards should be that it is only judged by the regular season. And so that is my last plea about the awards. But, and again, both Kuber and Khan, very deserving. It's not that I think this was the wrong person to get it. I am just saying with the voting, I do think Khan got affected.

No, he did. 1,000% certain he did. Because Cooper was great. Cooper's gonna be great. But Concanuple was the Rookie of the Year. I don't wanna take nothing from Cooper, but over the course of the season, consistently from start to finish, Concanuple from start to finish, I think he was the best rookie. Now that doesn't mean he's gonna be the best player.

Totally.

I think from start to finish, and his team made the play-in. Like, I can't remember if they— I think they ultimately might've gotten to the playoffs, but like—

They lost in the play-in.

Okay. Like, but you—

Yeah, if I remember correctly, yeah.

I think the Mavericks might've won 25 games. You know, so one kid's getting crushed for his team making the play-in. And by the way, what he was— he was a huge, huge reason why they were in position to make the play-in and then to get, get kind of— it backfired. And I, I— that's— you're right, that's not good.

But I do want to know, because I know we're probably like about to start talking about predictions, what do you think, uh, no LaMelo?

I think LaMelo is going to be really good in, um, for sure in Minnesota. I think the Hornets trading LaMelo, it's just another one of the bad decisions that the Hornets always make. Like they just can't seem to get their decision. And they got new ownership now. So I don't wanna blame, you know, new ownership. They're just taking, but like trading LaMelo, I didn't quite understand that one. And especially, Like, it's finally started to seem like they're starting to figure it out, you know, to begin with.

And how much did you care about Charlotte? Like, I was so invested.

Everyone was because it's fun, it's young, it's like, it's just wild, you know? And so, where it's like, they finally built some momentum, right? Like, oh man, they get to the play-in, you're starting to see these young guys come together. Boom! Send LaMelo out. They just that just set them back another three to four years at least. And so I just I I can't I don't know what to make of the decision making. But

I do think though, I I do think LaMelo and Ant is going to be ten out of ten. I'm so excited.

Open season is the first series from Meta Presents, and it's streaming now on the TV app on Meta Quest. And what Open Season is, is last year throughout the season, uh, in VR, I shot, uh, myself in therapy. And like I said, it's totally in VR. So when you watch this on the Meta Quest, you're actually sitting in the room with me. Uh, you're, you're— it's not like, oh, I'm just watching. of Draymond sitting like, you know, you're, you're, you're, you're submersed in this room with me. It's as if you're sitting on the couch as I go through my therapy sessions. Uh, you're sitting there with me. And ultimately what I wanted to do was I wanted to explore, uh, the mental side of the game, you know, um, allow people to take a look behind the scenes of what happens mentally With athletes throughout the course of a season. One day, one week, one month, you're feeling incredible. Everything's going great. The next month or next week or next day, everything could have changed. Throughout the course of our seasons, things change within the blink of an eye. Injuries happen. Suspensions happen. Different things happen. You lose 4 games in a row. What's the morale of the team now? Different things happen throughout the course of this NBA season that I don't think people ultimately know what athletes are dealing with. And so Open Season, I wanted to allow you to take a look behind the curtain on what I personally was going through. But then also, you know, for many, many years, it was always taught, Man, you don't need therapy. Therapy's for the weak. You don't need any help. Those people don't know you. All these things. And I will say, I think it created some times in my life that things that you had to deal with necessarily personally alone, that didn't necessarily have to be that way. Or things that has hampered you and bothered you for many, many years. that you didn't necessarily have to deal with in that way. Or I'm so tough, I had to fight through, you know, and we grow up like that. And I'm sure, you know, a lot of people has grown up like that. A lot of people has grown up with the understanding, or at least the, what they thought was the understanding of, I'm good. I'm just gonna push through. And there are resources out there for people to get help with different things that they may face in their lives. And I wanted to allow everyone to take a look behind the curtain on my therapy journey. Definitely hope you all go check it out. I definitely hope it's beneficial. And ultimately, when doing things like this, you always say, if you can help one person, Obviously you wanna help a bunch, but if I can help one person, it was worth it. Produced by Skydance Sports, The New Media, and Meta. Meta presents Open Season. All 6 episodes are now streaming on the TV app on Meta Quest. Go check that out.

Okay, do you think, and like, let's be real, don't try to do your, like, let's be real. East is better than the West.

Let me see. You got the Knicks, Philly, Detroit, Miami, Indiana.

You have Boston. You also have Toronto, which people are not talking about Toronto.

Toronto. We'll see what happens with DC with, with, with the motivated Anthony Davis and, you know, a very young motivated AJ DeBose. I think Trae gonna be happy to have a live threat like AD. So, you know, they're a dark horse, not to like win the league, you know, the conference or nothing like that, but just a dark horse to, to, to make a little noise. We'll see.

Completely. They could— the Wizards at their height, like, they could for sure be Play in, if not playoffs. Like if the Wizards work, oh my God, I think it'd be great. I really like AJ DeMonsa.

Orlando.

Orlando. Orlando needs to figure it out, but yes.

Atlanta. Yes. Yeah, the East is better.

Thank you. Thank you. I feel like we really just made some strides here.

I think it. Here's what I'll say. I think it's a much deeper conference.

Yes. But yeah, now the West is so like, it's top heavy.

It's very top heavy. And then it levels out and like, it don't bottom out, right? Like, I don't think bottom out. Like, I think you got a bunch of teams that's kind of in the same space, you know, of like, oh man. Like, and we'll see, like some teams will separate themselves, you know, it could be the Lakers separate themselves. themselves. Could be Houston, right? Like you got a lot of teams kind of in that same space. And, but I think the East is just the depth of it. Like that young Chicago team is probably gonna be one of the— oh, Cleveland, didn't name Cleveland.

And Cleveland.

Yeah, that's 11, 12 teams right there.

So many stars too. Like you remember whenever we were having these conversations about the conference, always just like the West had everybody.

Yeah.

You know? So it's like, of course West was better. But listen, y'all were on a run for many years. It is time. It is time for the East. It was always that the East wasn't good. Everyone's calling it the Leaster Conference. I'm like, okay. But I do think overall—

It's so exciting. I think overall though, the league is just gonna be better because OKC, San Antonio, obviously, right? You got Lakers possibly, Houston possibly. See what happens with us possibly. You get off to a good start, get guys healthy, things could change. You got Phoenix who had a good year. Obviously Denver's always gonna be right in there, you know? Yeah. You have, I think Sac's rebuilding a little bit. At least they seem to be rebuilding a little bit. A dark horse, Utah.

Okay.

Jaren Jackson being over there now.

Yes.

See what the boy, young DP got. You know, like that. Keontae George had a great year last year.

You know, so shout out to D-Wade. He was repping the Jazz all year.

Lauri Markkanen, like they, like that, they got a, like the Jazz, I think could be a dark horse. You know, what's New Orleans gonna look like with Jamal Mosley? Like, like,

definitely,

you know, we know they got talent, right?

And is Dejounte healthy?

Dejounte is healthy.

Dejounte healthy. Yeah.

Everybody's healthy.

Trey Murphy is so talented. I think People, he's not in a lot of conversations because he's in New Orleans, but he's very, very talented.

Absolutely.

You forget about the Pelicans sometimes.

So, you know, I think that the East is definitely better. 1,000%, actually. I'm not even gonna make the comparison. The East is better. It's

gonna be so fun. And I just, I love with the East, like, that it's all so close. Like you have Boston, Philly, New York, Toronto—that's all right there—and it just makes it fun that right in this little like you know Atlantic region they're all they're all good. But I do have a question for you about the West though, specifically about Limby. How much? Let me rewind. It seemed like one of the messages. during media day was just about what happened in the Finals and washing themselves of it. Like, it wasn't really the focus of the conversations. And now that doesn't mean that it isn't all Wemby is thinking about. I'm sure it is all Wemby is thinking about. I'm just curious, when you lose a Finals, how much are you supposed to think about it for it to not happen again? Like, what would your kind of— I mean, I guess, yeah, in 2019, like, what was the philosophy after losing?

I think it should— like, I don't think you can hide from the conversation. I think it should burn you. Like, and you need to feel that you lost, you know? Like, don't give me the, oh, I don't wanna hear about that. Oh, we moved on. No, you— no, no. It's New York who need to move on. You shouldn't move on, actually. Like, why are you moving on? Where are you moving to? You should sit in that stench, that it should burn because you were right there. And you should sit in that stench for a year. And yeah, you don't let it drag you down mentally, but you, you sit in that stench for a year because actually it should burn and you should feel that. And it should irk you that someone keep asking a question about it. And the only way you can really truly change that is to go fix it. And so when you talk about like— and by the way, I didn't see a ton of their media stuff, but I did see where they said, oh, Wemby didn't want to hear nothing about the— and it's like, okay, I get it. Like, I see what— I hear what you're getting at, but You know, you don't just get to tell people you don't wanna hear about losing. Like, you lost. And if you don't wanna hear about losing, there's only one way to not hear about losing. So if I was in their locker room, if I was a vet in their locker room, I'd say, yeah, nah, fellas, it's the complete opposite. We lost. Mm-hmm.

And by the way, they might— that might be what is happening in the locker room. Like, we— I am not privy to their internal conversations about it. I would be shocked if they are not always talking about how they can get better. The same way that I'm sure Wemby took this entire summer to be like, y'all are not going to see that again. Every piece of data and evidence that Wemby has shown us points to him likely taking this incredibly seriously. incredibly personally and coming back better. He just seems to have that mentality. I just am like— oh, go ahead.

No, I'm saying he does.

Yeah. And so I just, though, I'm interested in the psyche of what takes place for not just a team when they lose in the finals, but for a player who was likely stacking up and looking at KAT like, Damn. You know, like, this takes something else. And I also think, too, with Wemby, when we're talking about all of the, like, expectation and success and, like, circumstance, yes, you have to win. We all know that's all that matters. But what Wemby has done so young is insane.

It is. He going to rewrite every record we've seen.

No, it's crazy. Like, it is actually insane what we are seeing with Wemby. Even the fact he— all, all these youngins. Now granted, they're— it's an incredible team, but I'm like, y'all in the Finals? It's just crazy. Like, it's, it's so wild. And so, you know, I, I don't— I'm— my intent is not to make it seem like, oh my God, Wemby needs to be talking about the Finals as much as it is I am just curious how he has to see himself after that Finals when what he has already done up to this point is so great. And then you get to this moment and you're just like, oh, I didn't— I didn't show what I wanted to show. And then how do you parlay that into the next season to be better? Because, you know, I have never been in the NBA Finals and won or lost. So I don't know what that moment is like. When you have to look in the mirror after the loss and come back and be better.

Yeah, no, you definitely gotta do all of that, but you don't just get to say, oh, I don't wanna talk about it. Like, because to me, like, you have to remember again, and I said this when they, like, when they walked off the court after they lost, you know, and didn't shake guys' hands, like, people are like, oh no, it's cool. Like, They pissed off. They ain't have to shake nobody's hand. And it's like, no, y'all just played each other in the 7-game series. And they looked you in your eyes. I always say, look your killer in his eyes. They looked you in your eyes and they killed you. And they didn't come behind your back. They went straight through you. Stand there as a man and say, respect, you got me. Respect. Because, because if you— if, if it was ran back next year and you beat them, you're going to want them to stand there and you're going to want to be congratulated, or else you're going to look at them like, oh, okay, you know. And so it's along those same lines for me. I think it can come off a little front-runner-ish, you know what I'm saying? Like, oh, you don't want to talk about it. But by the way, now if they win it this year, next season you got to walk in that press conference. I don't want to hear nothing about that. Because if you can't talk about it, yeah, you like you

gotta.

You can't talk about it when you win either, you know. And so I'm just saying keep that same energy, like because if not, it becomes a little front runnerish, and that don't work, you know. So that's it. But let's speaking of Wimby. Oh, go ahead.

Oh no, Isaac, fair fair take, fair take. Yeah.

And speaking of Wimby, want to get some predictions before we get out of here on the six major NBA awards. And a couple custom ones that I think will be a little fun. Okay. So starting off, we go Coach of the Year. Who would be your pick for Coach of the Year this year and why? Because we just spoke about, right? Like, you know, all of a sudden, all of a sudden, you know, Sacramento come out and win 40 games. Like, is Doug Christie Coach of the Year because they won 40 games? Like, so we just spoke about that. So who's your Coach of the Year and why?

Coach of the Year is so hard to predict because, to your point, it is like so like about what we ended up seeing. I would say I'm gonna go Mitch Johnson, which is probably not what you are expecting, but I'm gonna go Mitch Johnson, and I. I only say that because, again, when we talk about these sort of things that we forget, Mitch also brought a team to the Finals in his first year. That is a big thing to have taken place. I think that if we see the Spurs be the number 1 team in the West, have the most wins, I think there would be an argument for it to be Mitch Johnson. Because it's the same thing. It's like it's like Mark Dagnall winning. Like it's you know, and it's not fair to say well he has one B. I mean it's it's the NBA. Everyone has someone.

One thousand percent.

I'm gonna say him.

I'll tell you another reason why I like that because Mitch Mitch is starting off the season having to make a critical decision, which is do I start Dylan Harper or do I bring him off the bench? Right? Are we bringing Champagny off the bench because People don't understand what that means, right? You move Dillon Harper off the bench, I mean, to the starting lineup and not off the bench, you'll be needing that scoring punch, that person to come in and settle the game down off the bench. You're losing that with him going into the starting lineup. So it's not— it's a very big decision. So depending on how this play out, this could make or break their season, right? Or you're having to retool like, ah, ain't really working. You know, all of a sudden this come out and it work and they come out guns blazing. This is Coach of the Year type of thing. Not as Coach of the Year. Where it's like, you don't have that

choice. Yeah, and having to manage the fallout of a choice like that is also something that a coach has to do. So obviously it depends on what happens in the year, but my way too early prediction, I'm gonna say Mitch.

I ain't mad at that at all. Rookie of the Year. By the way, I'll give mine as well. But just, just so—

Oh, okay. Oh yeah. Wait, who's your coach?

My coach of the year, I'm gonna go Steve Kerr.

Oh, surprise. No, I'm just kidding.

And the reason I'm gonna go Steve Kerr is because—

Because we're using Draymond a little differently this year.

You've had to rethink the whole offense. We're very young. Like, we got— if you look at our team by age, the number's gonna look old because Steph's old as hell, Jimmy's old as hell, I'm old as hell, right? Al Horford's old as fuck, right? So if you look at it by, sure, age is going, but then when you get away from that, it gets really, really, really young, you know? And so there, but— Count it out. And my thing is nobody wants to see us in the playoffs. And I think we get to the playoffs and nobody thinks we're going. And then, you know, we do what we do. So I'm gonna go Steve Kerr, Coach of the Year.

I like it. I like it.

He was almost out of a job last year. Now he about to be Coach of the Year.

No, I will say he has the narrative going for him right now. Like, if y'all come out hot, like, y'all got it. Are you in the year and you're in the playoffs? I think so, for sure. The Warriors, too, are just in such a— it's just an interesting moment in the franchise. Because obviously, you have a player like Stephen Curry, who is the best of the best, one of the best that we have ever seen, has given so much to the Warriors. And you're trying to sort of juggle this, like, What? I'm not saying you have to speak on this. I know obviously it is your franchise. But it's like, what do we owe our superstar? And to me, that is a real chance. That is when your superstar is still a superstar, still lighting up every arena that he goes into. How am I setting him up to win? And it's like, it's sort of this like past future-present dance that is occurring in Golden State that I am just like interested to see what it looks like for these next few years.

No, I agree. And here's what I will say about it. The Golden State Warriors has found the next face of the franchise. Yaxel is special.

I was gonna say, is he from your rival?

Yeah. Well, we don't acknowledge that. He's from Dominican Republic. He's from New Jersey by way of Dominican Republic. We do not acknowledge that place that he stopped at for 6 months. I told him, they announced him in the starting lineup the other day. And I told him, bro, you went to UAB. You ain't go to that scum place. Get outta here, bro. Go tell them to change your school name.

I love this. Yaxley, new face of the franchise. Tell me more.

He has the game. By the way, we're gonna talk Rookie of the Year next. That's my pick. But he has the game. He has the personality. He— yesterday we had open practice and these are just the types of things that I pay attention that I'm sure nobody else in the gym was paying attention to, but I pay attention. Okay. We had open practice, you know, we do the singing after. And we do the singing, this dude went up in the crowd and the fans like loved it. They were going crazy. And then one of the fans on the court dancing with him and he went all the way around. And it's just, and like you went in the stands and I don't even think he realized what he was doing, but I'm like, yo, these people are gonna love you. And like, we were— we started off practicing downstairs during the full practice, and then we went upstairs to the main court for the open practice to continue on. He's in— we're all underneath the rim in the paint. Steve's going crazy, like, come on guys, we need to keep going, we need to get through. And like, everybody's over there, like, he's in the tunnel signing autographs. And Steve—

he's a star.

Steve has to go get him. Literally, Steve has to walk over there and go get him. Like, yeah, actually Come on. And I'm standing over there looking at him like— and we're all joking, right? Like, dude, what are you doing? Like, have some feel. But I told him last night, I said, hey, just so you know, we were joking about— on you, and everybody gonna be joking. You're a rookie. People gonna be— don't lose that, because that's actually what Steph Curry would do.

Yes.

And I'm like—

That's what binds you.

Absolutely. I'm like, so don't lose that.

Like,

yeah, but you know, just everything about him. When he went up in the stands, 3 of his teammates followed him up there. And to most people, that's like— to most people, that's probably like, oh man, they went up there too. To me, it's like, no, no, no, they followed you up there. That says something else. Whether they followed you up there to protect you, whether they followed you up there because They think you're the guy to follow. That says a lot. It does. And like I said, he has the game. He actually has the game to do it. Now, when you speak next face of the franchise, A, I'm not trying to add pressure to him, or B, moving along from Steph, because Stephen Curry will always be the face of this franchise, whether it's 10 years from now, 20 years from now.

For life.

He will be the face of the— but, and talking about that next transition and what it— he is that guy and he is my 6th Man of the Year. I mean, excuse me, my Rookie of the Year.

Your Rookie of the Year?

Yeah.

No, I love that pick. I love that pick. Let me call out both picks back to back Warriors, but it's okay.

That

means I

think we're gonna have a big year.

And I love it 'cause it's, You should think that. You should think that. I'm gonna go Cameron Boozer, which I feel like is kind of everyone's like early pick right now. But from everything that we have seen, it feels like it will be him. I'm gonna pick Cameron Boozer. I think that the Grizzlies will be fun this year.

I ain't mad at that pick. I think, listen, one thing I think about him in his career, no matter what, I think the floor is a 2010 guy.

Yes.

And if that's your floor, man, if that's your floor, you, you, you— that's— that ain't— man, so I, I ain't mad at that pick at all. Uh, next up, Sixth Man of the Year.

Oh wee, what do I think for Sixth Man? Now there's a world— I mean, we of course saw this already Last year, but with whatever is going on with the Spurs, there is a world it's whoever is their 6th man. You know, like I think that's fair. I would say, you know, I always, always like Payton Pritchard. I don't know what the Celtics rotation's going to be, like what they're ultimately gonna decide with Payton. So for now, I'll say Payton. I don't wanna do another Spur.

I'll go DeMar DeRozan for my 6th man.

Oh, okay. That's a good pick. That is a really good pick. I'm gonna like say that is my second.

I'll say that. I think, you know, DeMar is going to do what he do. He's gonna score. The Denver Nuggets has always tried to figure out who gets the ball in the non-Jokic minutes. How can we make this offense work in the non-Jokic minutes? And I think they found the answer to that.

Yeah, and that's like what DeMar is there to be, a 6th man, is like tailor-made for winning 6th Man of the Year. So like, I— yeah.

1,000%. Uh, most improved player, some ideas: Brandon Miller, Khalil Ware, Dillon Harper, Payton Watson. Um,

I like

Payton Watson. Brandon Paczynski.

I like Payton Watson. I'll say Payton. I'll say Payton.

I like that pick because he gets a new situation, which you get to go in there with a clean slate. They just paid you, so you gonna get the opportunities. And he showed—

He'll have to change his game a little. Like that's—

And he showed at different times last year, especially when Joker was out, what he's capable of doing. I would say my pick for most improved player Who's your pick? Huh, I would say my pick is going to be Dillon Harper. I think with him going into the starting lineup, I think you're going to see more and more him being the focal point of the offense from a guard perspective. Obviously Wemby's Wemby, but Wemby is their center. He's not going to have the ball initiating the offense, doing all this stuff. I think it's going to quickly turn to Dillon Harper initiating all the offense. I think he's gonna mess around and be an All-Star this year. And if he's an All-Star going from 6th man, I mean, really 7th man, right? Because Keldon Johnson was the 6th man. So really 7th man, and you go from that to the next year All-Star, I think that has to make you Most Improved Player.

And you're— but you're fine with like the philosophical choice of having like a rookie to sophomore be Most Improved?

Yeah, I'm fine with that. And here's the thing, see, I do think oftentimes most improved player is like, oh man, it's this top 5 pick who was kind of failing for a while, but now they're turning into what they ultimately were supposed to be. This isn't that case, right? Like he played the hand he was dealt last year and now you open the reins up to him and he shoot up. It ain't his fault that he was the number 2 pick and they only played him 20 minutes a game. Right? Like, that ain't his fault. I

would say, I'd say any other, any other team, he might've been Rookie of the Year.

Absolutely. He's that good. You know?

He's so, so good. Yeah.

Absolutely. So I could see him being an All-Star this year. And if he's an All-Star this year, like he was the 7th man last year, he on the same team, by the way, a team that went to the NBA Finals. If he was the 7th man and he becomes an All-Star the following year, I think that has to be most improved. So I'm going Dylan.

Okay, I respect it.

We got 2 more awards before regular awards, and then we got a couple fun ones.

Um, okay, Defensive Player of the Year. Sorry, Greg, I'll go back. Oh yeah, that's gonna be Wimby's award until he retires.

Yeah, Wimby, Wimby, moving on. MVP.

I'm so sorry, Chet.

Yeah, it's over.

You had—

Chet had his chance. It's over. By the way, as someone with defensive aspirations, move on everybody, it's over. No,

I'm like, oh, I feel like Chet is incredible. And I would look at this like, dang, I'd like to let Wemby feel what— for MVP, I wanna see Wemby really take a jump offensively and win MVP. And I know, I know, I get it. Defense is half the game before you even start with that. I know. But it seems like when defense is your calling card for people to say you're gonna win MVP, it's like you gotta average, what would you say? Like 26, 27?

Yeah.

Like 27?

He gotta average at least 27.

Yeah. And so I'm just like, if I think we, if we see that, if that is what he did in the offseason,

MVP. I like Wemby as MVP. I think everybody, easy one to pick for sure. I'm gonna go Jalen Brunson.

Oh, I love that pick. I like that.

I'm gonna go Jalen Brunson. I think coming off the— my only worry with Jalen Brunson is I don't know how healthy he is right now. So I know he was coming off the surgery. You know, I don't know what that looks like at the top of the season. I have not seen a single New York Knicks preseason game. So I don't know if he's even played in the preseason. But if there's some injury stuff there, that's my only worry. But I like, I like Jalen Brunson. I like that guy. 'Cause he's gonna come back with like, he's the type of dude that's convinced himself all summer that like, they don't respect me. And I won a championship and they still don't respect me. And come back—

He's like, despite the fact I won, they do not respect me. Despite I'm hosting SNL, they don't respect me.

Yeah. He— because in order to be who he is, the pick he is, that size, and do it like he has to have that type of mindset. And so, yeah, I, I'm, I'm gonna pick Jalen Brunson.

It's also not discussed enough that he won that Finals with a bad wrist, his shooting wrist.

Yes.

Like, what do you mean? It's crazy. That Knicks run was, was crazy.

Yes, it was. All right, uh, last one, uh, 2 more. Sorry, Greg. Villain of the Year. This is a guy who NBA fans will actively be rooting against for whatever reason. Um, Villain of the Year.

I don't want to pick the usual suspects. That's why I'm like thinking. Okay, you go and then I'll tell— I'll tell you.

Wemby. Everybody wants to hate Wemby right now. I think Wemby. He's in that era. Yes, he's in that space, man. People were killing Wemby all Finals. Like, he's the dirtiest player ever. And he's right in that space where people are like, oh man, this cool, this cool, this cool. And then they're gonna be like, oh, trying to pick apart everything he do. I'm gonna say Wemby.

Okay, I like that pick. I feel— I get where you're saying, 'cause to me, I feel like everyone loves Wemby. But I think that when you factor in the New York of it all, it just kind of— it kind of maybe catapulted some of the villain story. But I feel like everyone really likes him. I can't think of who I think will be a villain. People might try to make Kawhi a villain.

Oh, that is— you know what's crazy? It's on my little notes right here. It's say Kawhi, all season chaos.

I think, yeah, I think they might try to make Kawhi a villain. But I think the Raptors are going to be so good. And they're going to be so good. Which, by the way, just increases your chances of being a villain. But so yeah, I'll say Kawhi.

That's our couple custom awards. Taylor, I can't thank you enough for doing this. This was extremely fun.

So fun.

Absolutely. And I'm sorry I didn't see your message, uh, but you know, the love is the love. And I

do

thank you for doing this. Keep shining. Good luck on NBA Prime this year. And, um, please have me back on for an interview. Maybe I can come into the studio. I don't know, something like that.

Please do. Come hang. I loved, I loved doing this. You never have to thank me. You call me anytime. I am there. This was That was a great time, and I have so much to think about. That's what always happens when we have these great times. So I appreciate you, and good luck this season.

Thank you.

I'm excited for you.

I appreciate it. If you're rocking with the Draymond Green Show, be sure to click follow on your favorite podcast app. And while you're there, go ahead and drop a 5-star rating and leave a review. I want to hear what you think, and it would also mean a ton to me if you share it with a friend that you think would enjoy it. Let's keep this thing growing. The Draymond Green Show is presented by Audacy and executive produced in conjunction with The New Media. Our executive producers are Leah Reese Dennis, Danny Friesinger, and Greg Holtzman. Video production and creative design by Kurt Courtney, Tim Mickle, Lauren Vieira, and Evan O'Brien. Special thanks to the team at The New Media and the team at Audacy. Maura Curran. Josephina Francis. Hillary Shuff. Eric Donnelly. Kate Rose. Colin Gaynor. And Jake Galli.